The American Voters Want Us Out of Iraq, the Iraqis Want Us Out of Iraq, Only McCain and Bush Want Us In Iraq

The Iraqi Prime Minister announced at a press conference that there is a small chance of any agreement with the Bush Administration regarding the status of U.S. troops in Iraq. Instead, according to the PM, the Iraqi government wants a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. This puts the Bush Administration and John "McSame" McCain in an interesting position. If both the American public and the Iraqis want us out in a definite time period, then why do they want us to stay in Iraq indefinitely?

This is from the London Times article linked to above:
"The current trend is to reach an agreement on a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or to put a timetable on their withdrawal,” Mr al-Maliki said during a visit to the United Arab Emirates. He rejected efforts by Mr Bush to hurry through an agreement on vital issues such as the immunity of US troops in Iraq and use of the country’s airspace. Mr Bush had hoped to sign a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) by the end of July to establish the basis for a long-term presence of US troops in the country.

It will be much harder for the Bush Administration and the Republicans to attack Obama's plan for a sixteen month withdrawal from Iraq if the Iraqis themselves want a timeline for our withdrawal. Once the idea of a timeline is accepted, then the only negotiating point is how long the timeline should be and how the withdrawal is to be accomplished.